kmswans79
New Member
I am looking for help troubleshooting a low water pressure issue. The system is a bit unique, and was installed by the previous owner:
Basic overview:
I have a private well system. The homeowner previously had a solar heat system, and when they stopped using it, they incorporated two cisterns/holding tanks into my water system. I have a pump in the well. Where the line enters the house it splits 3 ways 2 of these are for the holding tanks/cisterns, and the third route goes to a jet pump and water pressure tank, beyond which is the water supply to the house. There is one primary filter before any of the splits, and a second after the pressure tank to filter water in the house.
Recent History:
I recently replaced both filters with no known issues (Didn't notice drop in pressure at this point). More recently, I identified a leak in our downstairs bathroom, and had to cut into a wall, and replace a bad fitting on the hot water line. When I did this, I shut of the water to the house, and powered down the hot water heater. At some point after this, I noticed a significant drop in water pressure. while the water pressure was previously what I would consider Average, I now have fulgurations and at points nearly o pressure. Basically if you flush a toilet, you pretty much loose pressure all together.
I feared that my pressure tank may have a bad bladder. I did check the pressure prior to shutting everything down, and I was at about 30Psi. I then closed of holding tanks, shut down both pumps, and drained the tank. Pressure was then at about 10Psi. Spec sheet on Pressure tank states precharge Psi should be 38, so with the tank empty, I inflated tank to 38psi. Opened up the valves again, and repowered the system. At first the jet pump did not fire up, but I found a lever that kicked it back on. From here the the system at first had nearly no pressure, but slowly got better. I now have roughly the same pressure prior to adjusting the pressure tank Psi, and the pressure there seems to be holding (with water in system it is around 50Psi. While I think there may still be a slow leak since the pressure was significantly lower than the listed pre-charge psi, it does appear to be holding, so I believe my problem is else where.
Looking for "Next Steps" in trouble shooting, pump seems to work fine, and while some have suggested adjusting the cut-in/cut-out switches, I am wondering how they would have gotten so far out of whack in such a short period of time. Also, is it possible I somehow managed to clog the line by shutting down the system for repairs? If so, is there a fix for this outside of cutting out pipe and replacing? also, given that the pump fills two (i beleive 250 gallon cisterns/holding tanks) I don't believe that the problem would be with well pump and or well flow rate. The tanks have remained full this whole time, so there should be plenty of water to be distributed.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Basic overview:
I have a private well system. The homeowner previously had a solar heat system, and when they stopped using it, they incorporated two cisterns/holding tanks into my water system. I have a pump in the well. Where the line enters the house it splits 3 ways 2 of these are for the holding tanks/cisterns, and the third route goes to a jet pump and water pressure tank, beyond which is the water supply to the house. There is one primary filter before any of the splits, and a second after the pressure tank to filter water in the house.
Recent History:
I recently replaced both filters with no known issues (Didn't notice drop in pressure at this point). More recently, I identified a leak in our downstairs bathroom, and had to cut into a wall, and replace a bad fitting on the hot water line. When I did this, I shut of the water to the house, and powered down the hot water heater. At some point after this, I noticed a significant drop in water pressure. while the water pressure was previously what I would consider Average, I now have fulgurations and at points nearly o pressure. Basically if you flush a toilet, you pretty much loose pressure all together.
I feared that my pressure tank may have a bad bladder. I did check the pressure prior to shutting everything down, and I was at about 30Psi. I then closed of holding tanks, shut down both pumps, and drained the tank. Pressure was then at about 10Psi. Spec sheet on Pressure tank states precharge Psi should be 38, so with the tank empty, I inflated tank to 38psi. Opened up the valves again, and repowered the system. At first the jet pump did not fire up, but I found a lever that kicked it back on. From here the the system at first had nearly no pressure, but slowly got better. I now have roughly the same pressure prior to adjusting the pressure tank Psi, and the pressure there seems to be holding (with water in system it is around 50Psi. While I think there may still be a slow leak since the pressure was significantly lower than the listed pre-charge psi, it does appear to be holding, so I believe my problem is else where.
Looking for "Next Steps" in trouble shooting, pump seems to work fine, and while some have suggested adjusting the cut-in/cut-out switches, I am wondering how they would have gotten so far out of whack in such a short period of time. Also, is it possible I somehow managed to clog the line by shutting down the system for repairs? If so, is there a fix for this outside of cutting out pipe and replacing? also, given that the pump fills two (i beleive 250 gallon cisterns/holding tanks) I don't believe that the problem would be with well pump and or well flow rate. The tanks have remained full this whole time, so there should be plenty of water to be distributed.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.